When the online Apple Store is down, that usually means the company is adding new products – but this time it’s likely just a technical glitch.
The store has twice been replaced today with the message the company displays as it preps new products for sale …
We’ll be right back.
Updates are coming to the Apple Store. Check back soon.
Macworld says it has seen this message twice today, for both US and UK online Apple Stores.
We’ve seen the U.K. and U.S. Apple store go offline twice today: April 24, 2023, so we are curious to know what is going on? Apple is expected to launch a new 15-inch MacBook Air in the next few weeks, could the company be gearing up to launch it today?
Apple takes the store offline to add new products either for an Apple event (and there isn’t one today), or when it’s about to launch a new product via press release – something the company does for less newsworthy launches, such as relatively minor updates to an existing product.
Although an April launch has been suggested, the answer to Macworld’s question about the 15-inch MacBook Air is almost certainly “no.”
It could certainly be argued that the launch is a minor one – simply a larger version of the existing 13-inch model, with identical or extremely similar specs. However, a 15-inch MacBook Air powered by an M2 chip would be huge news for many, as we’ve previously said it could be the perfect machine for many buyers.
For a machine with such likely appeal, Apple is almost certain to announce it at an event, rather than quietly via press release. WWDC is the most likely time, though we can’t rule out a special event before then.
As for the glitch theory, the site suggests that Apple’s System Status page is one way to check. If the site is suffering from technical issues, then the Apple Online Store indicator ought to be yellow, rather than green. It’s not.
However, Apple is notorious for either not displaying problems at all, or doing so long after they first started – so in practice, the status page means nothing. Additionally, if the store was done for a product launch, it should stay down until the product has been announced. For me, it’s slow to load, but I haven’t seen the offline message.
The available evidence, then, strongly points to a technical issue rather than a product launch.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments